The French/Polish/Spanish co-production is being produced by Paolo Branco's Gemini Films, which is also selling the title. Set in the late 19th century, the film stars Isabelle Huppert as Polish actress Maryna Zatezowska, who immigrates to the U.S. and travels to California to found a utopian commune.

Hopper, who was in Cannes earlier in the festival, will play an impresario who revives the actress' career. Helen Mirren also has joined the cast of "America" and Harvey Keitel is in talks for a role, Branco said. The picture, scripted by Frederic Raphael, is budgeted at €15 million ($19 million). Principal photography will start toward the end of the year in Poland and Spain.

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“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

Hopper was forced to cancel his appearance at an exhibition at the Australian Center for the Moving Image in Melbourne called "Dennis Hopper and the New Hollywood," a collection of artwork and photography by the actor.

Hopper recently finished shooting the second season of TV's "Crash" and has several film projects in the works.

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“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

LOS ANGELES – A bandaged and frail Dennis Hopper was surrounded by friends, family and colleagues Friday as he was honored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

The 73-year-old actor and filmmaker, who is battling prostate cancer, appeared gaunt and was helped to the stage by a friend. Hopper explained that bandages on his right arm and eye were the result of a fall Thursday outside his home.

The two-time Oscar nominee, who has appeared in more than 100 films, said he came to Hollywood from his native Kansas at 18, "so that was my college."

"Everything I've learned, I've learned from Hollywood," he said. "This has been my home and my schooling."

As Hopper was speaking, a Hollywood tour bus passed slowly by the sidewalk ceremony and the tour guide said over the loudspeaker, "We love you Dennis."

Jack Nicholson, Viggo Mortensen, David Lynch and Dwight Yoakam were among the luminaries on hand to honor their friend and colleague. Nicholson wore a shirt decorated with images from "Easy Rider," the classic 1969 road film Hopper wrote, directed and starred in, alongside Peter Fonda.

Mortensen, who kissed Hopper on the cheek before approaching the microphone, called his friend of 20 years "a complete and fertile artist" who has been "a constant source of ideas, inspiration and humor for his friends and colleagues."

Another longtime friend, producer Mark Canton, said Hopper is "the coolest guy on the planet," which elicited a broad smile from the ailing star.

"He is a force of nature," Canton said. "He is a world-class original, a legend in his own right, whose impact on the arts and people that he loves so dearly is second to none."

As Hopper's star in front of the historic Egyptian Theatre was unveiled, the actor's 7-year-old daughter, Galen, threw her arms around her father's neck.

Hopper and his wife, Victoria, have been locked in a contentious feud since he filed to end the couple's nearly 14-year marriage in January. Earlier this week, Hopper's attorney said the actor is terminally ill and too weak to be questioned by his wife's attorneys in a deposition.

Doctors approved his appearance at Friday's ceremony because the event was a positive experience.

We often went to the cinema, the screen would light up and we would tremble, but also, increasingly often, Madeleine and I were disappointed. The images had dated, they jittered, and Marilyn Monroe had gotten terribly old. We were sad, this wasn't the film we had dreamed of, this wasn't the total film that we all carried around inside us, this film that we would have wanted to make, or, more secretly, no doubt, that we would have wanted to live.